Class Conductors Spokane Opera House Crews Pull Together 10 Graduations In A Week

The West Valley band director was late and Ray Garcia was bristling.

“If I just had the number of chairs in the band, I could set up the pit,” the stage hand said as crews scrambled to prepare the graduation ceremony for 175 seniors. “All I need is the number and I can throw it together in 15 minutes.”

High school students work for years to graduate.

But the behind-the-scenes hands who set up for the ceremonies have 30 minutes to achieve their goal.

In a week where 10 area high schools parade through the Opera House minutes apart, stage preparations are thrown together in less time than it takes to gulp down a burger and fries between classes.

Before the 2,500 seats had cooled from Sunday’s graduation of University High School, five stage hands and 17 ushers were cleaning up and tearing down the seating and stage to prepare for the West Valley commencement.

A different school means different colors, fewer chairs, or more microphones.

Diplomas for this school will be stacked off stage, not on. An interpreter will need a music stand, the cameraman a platform. Reserve 20 chairs for the disabled, unpack the programs. Make sure they’re the right programs!

And what about the band? How many chairs does the band need?

“I hate to be setting up while people are coming in,” said Garcia, who looked like a school principal as he paced the stage in his gray suit and tie.

Because of its size, intimate setting and flexibility, the Opera House is the most popular facility to rent for high school graduation, said events coordinator Dawn Antonelli. Schools pay $1,700 to $1,950 to use the city building built along the Spokane River.

“Shove them in, shove them out,” said Jaye Nordling, Opera House stage and technical manager. “It’s a tight turnaround.”

Since Friday, nine schools have graduated at the Opera House. Some take 90 minutes or less; others run on for more than two hours, leaving the crews just minutes to set up.

Tonight East Valley High School will conclude the marathon of graduations at the Opera House.

As the U-High crowd exited Sunday afternoon, a stage hand fired up a gas-powered blower to push canned string confetti under 50-year-old stage risers. Another hand lowered a massive 75-foot orange curtain. The backdrop is an Expo ‘74 holdover used only twice a year for West Valley and Lewis and Clark, the two with orange as a school color.

“I’d rather do “Phantom of the Opera” than a high school graduation,” conceded stage director Pat Devereaux as he covered the back row of chairs with the curtain. “But I’ve worked a lot more graduations than Broadway shows.”

Devereaux and others are members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 93. Ushers are employed by Portland-based Crowd Management Services, which contracts with the city to take tickets and manage crowds.

Jim Flynn, who supervised the 17 ushers working Sunday, said he enjoys the graduations, because many who attend have never been inside the Opera House. Some newcomers, however, confuse the ceremonies with a rock concert.

“One woman came in this afternoon and tried to reserve 41 seats using scotch tape,” Flynn said. “I’m sorry, but you can’t save that many seats.”

Unless you’re the band director. By 3 p.m., when the doors to West Valley’s graduation were set to open, Garcia still didn’t know how many chairs to put up in the orchestra pit.

As Garcia and other stage hands awaited the band leader’s arrival, they shared the reputations the schools have earned during years of ceremonies. Valley high schools - whose graduates have arrived with beach balls and home-made flamethrowers - tend to be the most rowdy, while Rogers High School graduates are the most polite. North Central is the crew’s favorite because their ceremonies are short, but Lewis and Clark is often the most colorful.

This year the Tigers dropped 400 balloons on the graduates. The stage crew later attacked the balloons with straight pins and pocket knives to sweep them out of the way.

Every school is different, which is part of the fun, said Devereaux as the West Valley band director arrived to give Garcia directions for setting up the orchestra pit.

True to his word, Garcia finished the job in 15 minutes.

“It all comes together in the end,” winked Garcia, as he stepped backstage to watch the crowd fill the house, oblivious to the work just completed. “Look at that: they’ve got orange flowers, an orange curtain and the band is playing. What more could you ask for?”